Select Reviews of Literature, and Spirit of the Foreign Magazines, 第 4 巻

ther different from it. The son of Mulkaamair was before him engaged in fight with a strong adversary. He had manufactured an English scythe into a tremendous sword, and with this he struck off the head of his enemy at a single blow, then stuck the point into it, and ran back to display the bloody trophy. George’s first thought had been to assist him; but the enemy were pressing on, and seeing the effect of their weapons, his courage suddenly deserted him. They were armed with bows, clubs, spears, and the boggebogge, a sort of wooden battledore, like the macana of the Brazilian tribes, having the sides of its head sharpened to an edge, and the middle thick and heavy. Of all these instruments George instantly conceived a most respectful opinion. His own party were losing ground. He forced his way through them, so as to be foremost in the retreat, and ran a full quarter of a mile before he looked behind him, nor did he halt till he fell into a hole and sprained his leg. This did not stop him. He continued to limp away with all imaginable velocity, and remained in such wholesome fear of the boggebogge, that he never again ventured within its reach. He had once seen a man knocked down with one, which laid open his head, and scattered part of his brains on the ground. His enemies supposed him to be dead, and left him. His friends, however, took him up, bound up his head, and in a short time, he walked on with them:

“The times have been, That when the brains were out, the man would die,”

and notwithstanding this instance to the contrary, George thought it was very likely to prove so still, in his own case; and ever after he acknowledges that he took care to run away in time.

: Mulkaamair met with the righteous reward of his ambition. He was carried, as appears to be the custom,

Vol. Iv. 3 &

on a fatta; that is, a rude palanquin formed of two rails tied together, and covered with matting. The enemy came up to him. About eighteen or twenty of his household fought bravely in his defence, till they were all overpowered and slain. Among them were two of his wives. He himself was made prisoner, and immediately put to death. Some of the missionaries had been compelled to accompany the army of the loyalists, or Aheefonians as they are called, their main strength lying in the district of Aheefo. For a little while every trifling advantage was imputed to their presence, and they came in for their share of the warmest acknowledgements in common with the god Tallaeitoobo and his compeers. Even their dog was caressed, and regaled with food, as a tutelary being. But as the brethren took no active part, and were too simple-hearted to keep up, by any artifices, a delusion so advantageous to themselves, this superstition soon gave way to contempt and indignation, and it was fortunate for them that they were permitted to steal away. Three of their number resided in a different part, with a well inclined man, who had been left on the island by an American ship. The conquerors came to their place of abode in the heat of pursuit, and a savage, to whom they had formerly refused something which he asked, instigated his comrades to murder them. They were much to be regretted. One of them [Bowel) who had been a shopkeeper, was a man of considerable talents, and having made great progress in the language, was forming a grammar of it. Their garden was flourishing. They had introduced the pineapple, and the cotton tree, which was beginning to bear, when they and all their labours were thus destroyed. Loogolala arrived with another division of his party, in time to save the wreck of Mulkaamair's army, and the fortune of the war was
changed. They slept in their canoes that night, and on the following morning routed their opponents. The beaten party took refuge in a large fiatooka, the burying place of Dugonagaboola, hoping that its sanctity would protect them. The conquerors attempted to pull up the fence; but as those within could see them, while they themselves were unseen, they made a successful defence. The assailants judged it best, therefore, to set fire to the thatch; but this would have been a crime; and with a strange inconsistency of superstition (akin to that of the old, wild Irish, who left their right arms unchristened) they applied to George, as one who might commit sacrilege with impunity. Amid all the lamentations for his backslidings, no expression of regret escapes the re-regenerated sinner for this day's work. He threw a firebrand upon the thatch—instead of feeling that every place, in which the helpless and innocent take refuge, ought to be truly sacred. It was soon in a blaze, and all who rushed from the flames were massacred; only a few young women were spared. The dead bodies were roasted and eaten. The fiercest savages of America are not more merciless than these islanders. Women and children were massacred, in some places, without sparing one, and this in a war preceded by no hostile or factious feelings, between people of the same nation or tribe, united but a few days before under one government, and now only disputing for the choice of a chief, under whom they were to be united again! A district called Mafanga, was considered as a country of refuge for all who fled there; and happily for those who escaped to it, no species of casuistry was discovered, by which the conquerors could violate it by proxy. Loogolala, now completely victorious, took the refugees from this asylum, but did them no injury. The surrounding islands

submitted, and he made excursions among them to take possession and enjoy his new dignity, while the principal island recovered from its devastation, and accumulated provisions for his return. George accompanied him on these excursions. He had now completely accustomed himself to the native habits of life, and among others, to their frequent practice of bathing, a diversion which they generally took thrice a day. But upon these occasions, George was exposed to the scoffs of his companions for appearing naked when he was undressed; and it was thought indecent not to be tatooed. They called him ouchedair, the mystery of which name he has left unexplained; but it operated upon him strangely;

his eyes were opened to his naked

ness; it offended his sense of honour and delicacy; and he resolved to be tatooed. The pain was so great that he could not go through the operation, for George was no hero. At length, however, shame prevailed, and the work was renewed by an experienced hand. It was performed every third day, the swelling and inflammation which followed, not subsiding sooner. When it was completed he was in a condition to appear full-dressed, without his clothes, and his European skin displayed the blue stain to such advantage, that he became as much an object of envy to the nation as he had ever been of SCOrn. - . . . . . The book was not written by George, but taken down in shorthand from his conversation, and then composed by a member of the established church. It wants, therefore, the fulness, originality, and raciness of auto-biography; but it would probably not have appeared at all, had it not been for the clergyman’s assistance, and the publick are certainly much indebted to him. Parts of the history have been slurred over, which, if George had indited in the true spirit of one confessing his sins, would have been more
clearly detailed. Thus it appears, that, when the warbroke out, he had no wife, which, as he had several a few months before, implies a tolerable proficiency in the vices of Tongataboo. He had been betrothed to a niece of Mulkaamair; she was now marriageable, and he went to live with her at her father's habitation. He was, however, sickened of savage life, by the horrours which he had witnessed, and still more by the dangers which he had escaped; and missing an opportunity of going in the same ship with the surviving brethren, he felt it, he says, as a just

unishment of his dereliction of

uty, and he was scarcely able to bear the thought of spending his future days among such a race. He had yet to behold new horrours. The people of Aheefo rebelled against the usurper—George landed with Loogolala’s men to suppress them; and the sights which he discovered in the district which they had wasted were, indeed, sufficient to shock an Englishman who had not yet devested himself of all sense of humanity. Human bodies, laid transversely upon each other, were piled up in large stacks, as trophies of victory. This, however, was done in the taste of ordinary barbarism. The politest of the orientalists, the Persians, whom French writers have complimented with the title of the Parisians of the east, erect monuments with skulls. But a little way from one of these human stacks, he came upon a spectacle which, he says, almost froze his blood. A mother and her child had been murdered, and these accursed savages had amused themselves with placing the dead infant at the dead breast, and leaving them to stiffen in that attitude. The philosophists who have declaimed in favour of the savage state, could have found no admirers, if the publick had not been as ignorant as themselves. Old travellers, and the primitive historians of America, were not in the ordinary course of reading, and the facts of

intendant over one of these islands,

because it was supposed that the feeling of hospitality would be strong enough to prevent the younger chiefs, as well as the other natives, from plundering what was under his care. But hunger is too strong to be restrained by any laws. George's field of plantains was robbed, and the traces on each side of the hut in which he lay to guard it, plainly showed, that if he had heard the robbers and sallied out, men had been stationed there to transfix him. They were obliged to eat the root of the plantain with the improvidence of famine, and to drink the unripe milk of the cocoa. Numbers died for want, and George leaving his island, went to Loogolala for food. The brother of this chief appointed him superintendant of his district. This brother profited by the example of ambition which Loogolala had shown; began to fancy himself equally entitled to sovereign power; and resolved to revolt against him, and take possession of the Vavou islands, for which, accordingly, he set off with a party of followers.
Reorge was now in great perplexity. There was no rule of principle or duty to direct him, if he had had virtue to follów it. All he had to do, was to take measures for his own preservation; and this was mo, easy task, when his immediate lord had revolted, and left him in charge of his district. As the safest side he abandoned his trust, went to Loogolala, and put himself under his protection. He soon acquired his confidence; took an active part in his concerns; and in consequence of the reputation which he had acquired as a farmer, was sent by him to one of the Vavou islands, with a number of men to bring it into a state of cultivation, and thus contribute to remedy the general scarcity. The prospect of having an island of his own delighted him, and he set off for his little dominion in high spirits, anticipating, he says, the happiness of being freed from the many inconveniencies of dependence. About midnight, they reached the Vavou islands. The moon was up, and as thcy were about to land, they saw a man getting out of his canoe, as if returned from fishing. George, who was hungry, jumped upon the beach, and called to him to give him some fish. Fluently as he spoke the language, it was still easily distinguishable that he was a foreigner, and the man, instead of answering his demand, told him there was a ship of his country, which had been there for three days. As soon as he was convinced that this intelligence was true, he became exceedingly agitated, and all his thoughts were bent upon effecting his escape. His agitation was increased, when on the following morning, while he was urging the chief of the canoe which had brought him there, to proceed to the ship, promising to get him iron tools from his countrymen, another canoe arrived belonging to the Hoorn islands; and the men who had been twice at Vavou, informed him, that Loogolala's bro

threr was master there, and had vowed vengeance upon him for leaving the district of which he had made him superintendant. The men yielded at length to his persuasions, and put off in secret to the ship; just as they were approaching her, she got under weigh. The wind blew only a light breeze. She was some time in getting round, and the canoe gained upon her. George was steering, but when he drew near, the natives refused to let him stand at the helm any longer, lest he should run the canoe against the ship. He called out, how do you do, countrymen? His dress and his tatooed skin belied his tongue, and the sailors only laughed at him, supposing him to be a native who had picked up this English phrase. They therefore, held on, and this opportunity of escape was likely to be lost for ever. He attempted to tell them who he was, but he had so long been disused to his mother tongue, that he intermingled it with Tongataboo words, so as to confirm the sailors in their opinion, and increase their laughter. He jumped overboard to swim to the ship. The chief of a canoe which was near him, told him to get in, and he would take him to the vessel. No sooner, however, was he in the canoe, than this wretch turned with him toward the shore. He cried out loudly, in his broken language, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, in utter despair. Happily, his cries and his gestures caught the attention of the captain: —“That must certainly be a European,” he said, and ordered out a boat manned with eight men. The islanders seeing this, pushed for the shore, scoffing him, and saying, he must visit Loogolala's brother before he left them. A sailor at the head of the boat beckoned to him to leap into the water—he watched his opportunity, sprang over, and dived, that they might not strike him with their paddles. The ship proved to be an East
Indiaman, which had carried out a reenforcement of missionaries, under William Wilson, formerly chief of. ficer of the Duff, and George found on board two of his former assotiates, renegadoes like himself, Smith the one, was acting as purser, the other was Broomhall the metaphysician, the only person on board who had the kindness to clothe this poor runaway from his own wardrobe. They stopt at the Hoorn islands, and while they were bartering for provisions, George met an acquaintance who gave him intimation of a design to cut off the whole boat’s crew, which but for this warning would probably have succeeded. During the voyage, he was in a wild state of mind, sick of savage life, and yet too long accustomed to its privileges to look with any compla– cency to the restraints of society, and day-labour with the trowel; and when they came in sight of Tinian, he wished to be put ashore, that he might end his days in solitude. The wish, however, was not strong enough to make him ask to be left there. They reached China, where Broomhall remained, and George applied himself so earnestly to learn the duties of a sailor, that he got employed in an American vessel, and made his way to England by way of the United States. For a time, he felt an insuperable reluctance to regular labour, and a settled life. After which, however, a female relation persuaded him to go to the

town where his first religious sentiments were received, in hope aat the society of his old friends naght rekindle in his heart the almost extinguished sense of religion. The experiment succeeded. He followed his former occupation, and as he tells us, was “induced by his pluus friends to attend the long neglected means of grace.” There is a passage in the beginning of the book, which might weaken our opinion of its veracity, if the narrative were not in all other parts probable, consistent, and confirmed by the missionary accounts, wherever it can be compared with them. Describing a whale which rose near the ship, he says the scales seemed very hard, like slates upon the roof of a house. The editor ought to have known that the skin of the whale is smooth. A needless confusion is occasioned by calling the high priest sometimes Duatonga, (which is probably his title) sometimesTuttafache—in one place[page 185] the two names are so used, that they appear to belong to different people. Farther information might not improbably be obtained from George, by judicious queries concerning the state of property, the sacred family, &c. Perhaps the editor may think these hints worthy of attention, and in a second edition, increase the value of a work for which we readily acknowledge ourselves obliged to him.

FROM THE EIDINBURGH REVIEW,

Travels in various Countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. By Edward Daniel Clarke, LL D Part the First—Russia, Tartary, and Turkey. 4to. pp. 788. London, 1810–To be republished by E. Bronson, Philadelphia.

IT is above two years since we expressed our anxiety for the appearance of this work; and we have now to congratulate our readers and ourselves on its publication. But what is still more satisfactory, and

what, after so many instances of disappointment, we could scarcely venture to expect, almost all that we anticipated from the adventurous spirit and the known abilities of Dr. Clarke, has been fulfilled; and we